HEALING ENVIRONMENT

JKMM Architects prescribes nature themes and data-based research for the innovative Hospital Nova in southern Finland

text: mairi beautyman

Previous spread: At Hospital Nova in Jyväskylä, Finland, by JKMM Architects, Tiina Pyykkinen’s Notes of Lights appears on the facade of iron oxide–tinted precast concrete, under which runs perforated aluminum. Photography: Martin Sommerschield/Kuvatoimisto Kuvio Oy. Above: LEDs undulate across the lacquered-steel ceiling in the atrium, where Finnish pine accents walls of brushed perforated aluminum. Photography: Hannu Rytky. Opposite: In the patient-room ward, sliding doors hosting Kati Immonen artwork back nursing stations in laminated wood. Photography: Pauliina Salonen. Top: The atrium’s custom cross-laminated timber benches—ranging from 5 to 14 feet long—have moveable polyester cushions that can be leaned against or sat on. Photography: Pauliina Salonen. Bottom: More LEDs illuminate the stairway leading to reception on the second floor. Photography: Tuomas Uusheimo. Why shuffle patients around, when moving is chore enough when one is sick? And with designs that generally leave bad tastes—like medicine. So thought a 2010 Aalto University academic research team determined to transform the hospital experience in Finland. While healthcare in the Nordic country is publicly funded and universal, the typical facility was a bloated agglomeration of buildings that had haphazardly sprung up over the years, with the country’s last ground-up general hospital built five decades ago.

The university team’s proposal for a paradigm-pushing, new kind of hospital turned heads, and in January 2021, at the beginning of a winter surge in COVID-19 cases, Hospital Nova opened its doors in Jyväskylä, approximately 160 miles north of Helsinki in what’s called the Finnish

Lakeland region, to those seeking primary and specialized care. Demonstrating patient-orientated solutions as well as a decidedly un-hospitallike concept that combines art and nature, and channeling the healing powers of both, the 1.2-million-square-foot facility was conceived by JKMM Architects in collaboration with medical professionals as well as EGM Architecten, a healthcare-specialist firm.

Driving the modular architecture of the hospital is a logic-focused reorganization of all medical services into four categories: surgery and specialized care, a 368-bed patient ward, supporting functions, and an outpatient facility with 360 consultation rooms. Resulting in six volumes, each rises three stories from a shared base structure containing the triple-height public atrium—the hospital’s beating heart—to flow upward in continuous bands “like a 3-D sausage,” says JKMM founding partner Teemu Kurkela, who led the endeavor with project architect Juho Pietarila. “Areas can very easily be found from a long central arcade, like in a shopping mall.” (Kurkela was a

Top: Rising from mixed-elastic flooring typically used for gyms, a stacked-pine structure resembling a Finnish log cabin is used as a children’s play, snack, and consultation area. Photography: Tuomas Uusheimo. Center: Yuichiro Sato’s pencil and coal drawing of a bird’s nest is printed on a wall’s laminated board in one of the 368 patient rooms. Photography: Pauliina Salonen. Bottom: His nature images also appoint the rooms’ automated sliding doors. Photography: Pauliina Salonen. Opposite: Near the cafeteria is a private courtyardlike room with aspen stones and alder benches by Nora Tapper. Photography: Tuomas Uusheimo.

professor at Aalto University at the time of the research project, and Hospital Nova is located just 5 minutes from the Alvar Aalto Museum.)

To double-down on space-saving efficiency, the design team enlisted a mathematician to analyze need, capacity, and actual usage by the 3,600 employees. Standardized like hot desks, consultation rooms are shared between doctors for the same patient, ending the shuffle. “It’s the professionals, not the patients, who are moving,” Pietarila explains. For administrative tasks, doctors head to a nearby work space—positioned for easy access—and sit right beside nurses. The cafeteria is shared by patients, visitors, and hospital staff. “It’s quite radical in that there’s no hierarchy,” Kurkela states. An on-demand delivery system eliminates the need for space usually dedicated to storing medical supplies. To ensure a state-ofthe-art facility for the future, removable elements such as modular prefabricated bathrooms offer built-in flexibility.

The region’s expansive flora and fauna are celebrated inside and out with original works by 13 Finnish artists chosen with help from JKMM and commissioned by the hospital. The program begins right at the facade, where Notes of Lights, a light-reflective installation by Tiina Pyykkinen, swirls over the building’s black-tinted precast concrete, the pattern a subtle tribute to three nearby lakes. The aquatic theme continues inside the cavernous atrium, which serves as lobby and access point to all medical services and houses the cafeteria, an auditorium, and seating and children’s areas. Rising three stories, the atrium’s ceiling is clad in aluminum sourced from the shipping industry and lacquered a Nordic-lake blue. Illuminating it are wavy LED tubes in various lengths that help direct visitors and patients forward and also “have an underwater affect,” Kurkela notes.

Nearby, in a small, enclosed courtyard, reeds sprout from the granite floor—actually an installation by sculptor Nora Tapper that also includes wooden stones and piers to perch on. Inviting quiet contemplation for family members and hospital staff, the courtyards are a more private alternative to adjoining seating areas with custom wood benches. A contemporary take on the traditional Finnish log cabin rises from a livelier public area: a 3,000-square-foot play, snack, and consultation area for children. With pine logs hand-chiseled with an ax and laid vertically, the cabin provides “contradiction to the very industrial,” Kurkela comments. Beyond, two spiral stairs, their steel construction lacquered “a green water-plant

color,” Pietarila adds, lead to reception on the second floor (the lobby is also outfitted with 18 elevators).

The nature and art as healer leitmotif continues in the cafeteria, where 60 jellyfishlike pendant fixtures drop from the ceiling. With fire-proof shades that can be removed for cleaning, they compose Flower Lake, a lighting installation by Petri Vainio. Elsewhere, four national parks in Central Finland inspired the art in the patient ward, on the hospital’s top three floors. Laminated on 5-by-8-foot automated sliding doors and paired with prominent room numbers, native plant and animal imagery help to differentiate the rooms, each outfitted with an armchair that extends into a bed for overnight guests. Each is also spacious and single-occupancy— offering comfort and privacy that’s more hospitality style than hospital.

PROJECT TEAM LAURA HÄMÄLÄINEN; RAISA HÄMÄLÄINEN; VEERA LUOSTARINEN; TIMO RYTTÄRI; KAISA TAKALA; JORMA VALKAMA; PETER VUORENRINNE; ASMO JAAKSI; SAMULI MIETTINEN; JUHA MÄKI-JYLLILÄ; RIIKKA HELDAN; AARO MARTIKAINEN; ALLI BUR; ANNA MELANDER; CHRISTOPHER DELANY; GERRIE BEKHUIS; JAAKKO SARASTE; JUSSI JANSSON; KIMMO KIRVESMÄKI; MARKO PULLI; MARKO SALMELA; OLLI VASKELAINEN; PÄIVI AALTIO; VILLE HASSI; PEKKA TYNKKYNEN; RAINER VIRTANEN: JKMM ARCHITECTS. EGM ARCHITECTEN: HOSPITAL-DESIGN CONSULTANT. LOCI MAISEMA-ARKKITEHDIT: LANDSCAPING CONSULTANT. AIMONOMIA: GRAPHICS CONSULTANT. AKUKON: ACOUSTICAL CONSULTANT. RAMBOLL: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER, MEP, CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANT. EASYTEC: MEP. SRV: PROJECT MANAGEMENT. FROM FRONT PEDRALI: CHAIRS, TABLES (CAFETERIA). VIACOR: ELASTIC FLOORING (CHILDREN’S AREA). THROUGHOUT TARKETT: VINYL FLOORING. This page, from left: The cafeteria seats up to 340 patients, visitors, and employees in CMP Design Studio’s Osaka chairs; benches are custom; photography: Pauliina Salonen. The 1.2 million-square-foot facility is composed of six volumes atop a shared base structure containing the triple-height atrium.; photography: Martin Sommerschield/Kuvatoimisto Kuvio Oy. Opposite top, from left: In a courtyard off the atrium, Tapper’s aspen and alder sculptures provide seating; photography: Hannu Rytky. Suggesting jellyfish, Petri Vainio pendant fixtures hover from the ceiling in the cafeteria; photography: Studio Juha Sarkkinen.